Lancaster confirmed he has retained his injured crew of players with a hope he can take them on England's summer tour to New Zealand.

The England boss admitted he could not reasonably select Flood, despite pleading with the 28-year-old not to move to France in the summer.

Lancaster said: "We are hopeful that some of those injured may be available before the end of the Six Nations and certainly for the (summer) New Zealand tour.

"I have met Toby Flood several times and told him I really wanted him to stay at Leicester and play for England.

"He has made a lifestyle choice and we respect that, but given the RFU's policy of not selecting players based overseas save for exceptional circumstances it was important that we allow others such as George Ford to progress.

"Stephen Myler has a chance to lay down a marker when he trains with us while we have decided that Freddie Burns should get more international game time with the Saxons against the O2 Ireland Wolfhounds at Kingsholm on January 25, while Rob Webber and Richard Wigglesworth will give us some depth to our training."